Saturday, October 10, 2009

Above: That's the old school crusty punk tattoo usage of 'FTW', as opposed to the internet nerd usage -- i.e. "Psycho le Cému FUCK THE WORLD" rather than "Psycho le Cému for the win". Just to clear things up.

Left: Seek, bassist for Psycho le Cému, FTW!

Consider this one a postscript to the Visual Kei post I wrote earlier this week. Thanks to the recommendation of Illogical reader '23 Wolves', I have become acquainted with what is quite possibly the most intense and Gwarlike VK band, Psycho le Cému. And while their music is nothing to write home about, sort of like a mutant cross between late-era Bad Religion and sappy electronic J-pop, it is not substance we're worried about here. It's style. And PLC has that in spades.

There are 4 reasons that PLC have earned my respect, above and beyond other bands in this genre:

1) In spite of my dislike for cosplay, anime dorkdom, and shitty pop music, PLC have taken all of these concepts to such extreme lengths that I can't help but tip my hat. These guys have played concerts at several anime/cosplay conventions (including one in San Francisco), often acting out scenes from manga, popular video games, and movies both onstage and in their videos. They broke some sort of new ground there, good taste be damned.

2) PLC's videos make me feel like I've taken large amounts of hallucinogenic drugs (examples later in the post). As I stopped taking hallucinogenic drugs a long time ago, the cheap thrills (however inferior to the original) provide the warm embrace of high schoolish nostalgia without any of the adverse side effects of the genuine article.

3) Street cred: PLC's singer, Daishi, was arrested for possession of methamphetamine in 2005, at the peak of their popularity. Sadly, this meant that all of their merchandise was removed from stores in their homeland, effectively ending their career. Apparently, Japan is a little tougher on criminal pop stars than the United States. The band is currently putting together a 10-year reunion (they formed in 1999).

4) PLC had/have a side project, which bears the charmingly Engrish name "Bad Boys, Be Ambitious!"

Psycho le Cému was comprised of five "characters", who changed appearance with the release of each of their singles but usually kept their same basic concept. Daishi was "the hero", Seek (see above) was "the monster", rhythm guitarist Aya was "the girl" (although I'm pretty sure Aya is a dude), drummer Yura-sama was the "wizard/warrior", and lead guitarist Lida was "the sidekick". The band released five albums in the 6 years of their existence, which in turn produced 13 singles. Lida and Yura-sama now play in a band (consisting of only acoustic guitar and tambourine) called Dacco. Seek and Aya have joined Visual Kei band Mix Speakers, Inc.You can check out PLC's official blog, SuperCosplayBand.com, here. But before you do, please take a moment to peruse a couple images from the Psycho le Cému library, followed by a few of their videos. IF you think you CAN HANDLE IT!!!

Okay. Ready, set, drop acid.... NOW.

"Ai No Uta"

"Roman Hikou" (check out the part at 2:12 where we get the privilege of traveling through Aya's man-gina.)

"Megatron" (live)

One of their heavier numbers, "Murder Death Kill", live:

Last one, "Prism". Note the recurring pentagram theme:

I know what you're thinking: Three fucking semi-anime themed posts IN A WEEK?! WTF FTW?!